Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1887-01-05
nA1RIA0p n SUNA.


Ds~eyu OtuSo0.
"A Chinese love leAerl Have l
any old-fsshi0ned Chinese love letters
IN my trunk? Have / . gilt-edged
Chinese billet-doux with q monogram
Ike crows irackY There was never
love letter written In Chinese. No
Chinese maiden ever penned billet
doux or sent a valentine"
Rather sadly was this said by q 70.
mantle young Chinaman, Mr.. Hong
Wing, who Is noted among the Chi.
nese for the skill with which he plays
on the mandolin.
"lr China" continued he, "a man
never secs his wife until he is welded
TO her for life, and sometimes he does
not see her then, for she may refuse
TO remove her veil until three DAYS
have elapsed after the wedding. II
he doesn't like her he cannot get d.
vorce, but he may marry another
wife, and then another and another,
until ne has gone through the blind
fold lottery often enough to get one
that suits him. Some of these chinese
CrDsuscs have hundreds OF wives.
There was an old bachelor who took
1t into his head to get married one
winter, and he married 200 wives be-
fore he got through. The last wife is
the favorite, but the first one is the
boss"
"Ifa man never sees ais wife before
their wedding, how does he make
love to herr"
''He doesn't make love 70 her. His
II lAr AAx.i ~.
future mother-in-law makes love TO
him. II is sour courtship Children
are formally engaged 10 other chil
dren that they have never seen. at the
tender age OF or 10, and after an en-
gagement OF ten or twelve years they
get married."
docs a Chinanan ever marry his
cousinf"
NO; a marriage Of cousins was
never heard OF in China. A man may
no more marry his cousin In China
thon in England man may marry
his deceased witc's sister. You talk
about your old families here, and
your Oldest families are only five gen.
erations old. In China families are
seventy-fve and eighty generations
iold, and every member has complete
record of his ancestors for all these
generations. The remotest kinship
prevents marriages in China, aud II
two families have the taintest magma
BILE kinsbip seventy five generations
back their children cannot marry"
"W hat are the most common fami-
lies in your country"
THE Chens, the Wongs and the
Lees The Chens are the Smiths of
China, the Wongs are the Joneses and
the Lees are the Browns. A Mr..
Chen would marry Miss Wong, but
he wouldn't marry Miss Chen. Per
hsps that Is the reason why the old
folks make the matches. 1t prevents
1.-THE Chens from falling in love with
one another"
/ "Arc the Chinese ladies cul,ivated?'
| ooh, yes; they can read and write,
draw, paint and embroder. They
never 90 out on the street with their
Husbands. If a Chinese man and
woman were TO walk ON the sic Il
larm in-arm in their country. a.
American men and women do. they
would be mobbed. The women stay
indoors. II they wish to visit their
mothers they take conveyances. Some
times they may be seen walking in the
park with their children"
| You are married."
eyes"
"To Chinese ladyyn
tNo; TO an American. came to
this country when boy IL years old
Though was 5000 miles from China,
my mother betrothed me to u little
Chinese girl | had never seen. My
mother used to write to me how small
her feet were and how pretty she was,
and what beautiful cat-likc nose she
had. When | was 90 years old mother
sent me letter saying was old
enough TO get married and must come
back to China and marry the girl
| what did you think about it,
II thought was old enough, and
so tell heels over cue in love with an
American girl in Nevada, and married
her. We had our pictures taken, and
! l sent one to my mother, together with
an account OF the wedding, which |
| translated from an American newspa-
per into Chinese"
"What happened?'
THE next thing | knew my uncle
and four cousins came on to the United
States and had me arrested for bigamy.
l was taken before court and tried.
My uncle went on the stand and swore
that had wife in China"
"What did you do then"
II thought | was in box, as you
Americans say The Judge asked the
witnesses how old | was when ! LETT
China. They replied that my mother
had picked her out for me, and that, in
Chinese law, was the same as mar
riage. The Judge said that they didn't
have any Chinese statutes in this
country, and my uncle innocently re
piled that he would send to China for
some. Everybody in the court
laughed, and, as had lived in town
ever since | came to America, all
knew that had left China little boy,
SO the jury acquitted me. My uncle
told the Judge that he would be be-
headed when he went back to China.
and l suppose the little girl whom l
never saw is grass widow. Poor
childW
|